Rejections. We all get them. In fact, there are only two things we can absolutely count on in the writing business: rejections and bad reviews. There’s no doubt rejections make us feel terrible. As Brian Doyle wrote in Portland Magazine and was quoted in Letters of Note, “To receive one is to instantly and all at once […]
How to Guarantee Rejection: Top 10 Ways Writers Self-Reject when Querying Bloggers, Editors, and Agents
by Anne R. Allen Having a popular blog has helped me feel a lot of empathy with agents and publishers. That’s because Ruth and I get a ton of queries, too. Most of ours are from authors or publicists who want a blog tour promotion, guest blog spot, or a book review. Some want us […]
The 10 REAL Reasons Your Book Was Rejected: A Big 5 Editor Tells All
by Ruth Harris I’m an Amazon #1 and million-copy NYT bestselling author published by Random House, Simon & Schuster and St. Martin’s. I was also an editor for over 20 years. I worked at Macmillan, Dell and Bantam and for a small but thriving independent paperback house, now defunct—not because of me. 🙂 I was also […]
The Biggest Mistake New Writers Make and 5 Ways to Avoid It
by Anne R. Allen It’s been an exciting week for the blog. Marketing expert Penny Sansevieri named us to the Top 30 Websites for Indies and blog guru Molly Greene named us to her list of must-read “leaders” in self-publishing. (I’m only recently self-published—and most of my work is still with a small press—but […]
Rejection 101: What Authors Should NEVER Do When They Get Rejections
I know. Rejections hurt. But they’re also a necessary part of your career as an author. So when you get your first one, give yourself time to feel the pain, then do something to celebrate. Maybe even print it out and frame it. Yup. You read that right. Congratulations! You now have the one thing […]